Quick Shots: Jefferson J-Hawks' penalty doesn't seem fair

Saturday

Mar 8, 2014 at 5:00 PM

By Matt TrowbridgeRockford Register Star

I didn’t see every video the IHSA did or read any of the testimony the schools gathered, but it seems wrong that Jefferson had to pay a higher penalty than East, which started the fight and threw most of the punches in Tuesday’s post-game regional basketball fight. On paper, the penalties might have been equal, but East’s season was already finished, while Jefferson’s five suspensions gave them no chance in Friday’s regional title game.

“This set a precedent,” Jefferson coach Todd Brannan said. “Your team gets beat in the postseason and you can just start a fight with the opposing team and if there is any kind of retaliation, those kids are going to be suspended also.”

Penalties should help stop future incidents. This decision didn’t do that.

Record setters

Fred Van Vleet’s five assists Friday gave him 169, one more than former Freeport star Jamal Meeks had for Indiana’s 1992 Final Four team. Hononegah grad David Brown, the MAC’s leading scorer, has 574 points for Western Michigan, putting him within 46 points of former Boylan star Chad Gallagher’s record for Creighton in 1991. So our local scoring and assist records could both be broken in the same year by star players for conference champions.

“It’s good that Fred and me are doing something that is bringing notice to Rockford,” Brown said. “We’re showing this is a place with good kids and good games coming out of here. Fred is at a different level right now. I am really happy that he is playing so well and breaking records.”

A Packer pick-up?

The Saints will reportedly cut Darren Sproles. At age 30, he’s no longer at his peak, but he’d be a fine cheap addition for the Packers as a third-down back. He caught 71 passes for 604 yards last year. That’s more catches than Green Bay’s four running backs combined last year (62 catches for 457 yards).

Cubs log-jam

The Cubs have a log-jam of promising young infielders with third basemen Kris Bryant and Mike Olt, shortstop Javier Baez and second baseman Arismendy Alcantara among the top prospects in the Cubs’ stocked minor-league system. The Cubs should bring Olt and Alcantara up by at least mid-season to give them a shot and see what they can do before even more ballyhooed prospects Bryant and Baez are ready.